I have seen boyfriends, husbands and fathers give their females .38's, 9mm and 45's that just scared the crap out of them. Why would anyone want to do that? I started my wife out with a .22 and worked her way up to larger calibers....
This.
Part of the reason I am getting back into guns is so that I can get the wife comfortable enough with guns to defend herself at home when I am not there. I sure as hell am not going to get her to fire a .44 magnum on her first time out, so starting with a .22 makes sense. Generally women aren't drawn to guns the way men are, so we should all stop assuming that bigger is better for them. I understand all the arguments about "man stopper" ammo, but if the female in question is scared to used the gun, what good is it?
So in the battle between a .22 and a box o' rocks...well. I think the .22 wins.